Hell Ride
Pistolero is the head of the Victors motorcycle gang. 30 years ago, his girlfriend Cherokee Chysum got murdered by the 666ers and he never got over that but as they left there’s little he could do. When his left hand, St. Louie, gets his throat slit and burnt alive, Pistolero realises the 666ers have returned and sees it time for payback. Together with The Gent and Comanche he plots an attack on the 6ers lead by Billy Wings and The Deuce, but first he’ll have to take care of his own crew who he suspects have been paid off and are about to betray him…
Sound and Vision:
The image has a very 60s look with plenty of grain but that’s an intentional choice to recreate the atmosphere of those years. For the rest there’s nothing to complain as there are no compression errors, plenty of detail, sharp images and no edge enhancement. Good transfer.
The soundtrack is emphasized on the front channels to display perfectly the many dialogues and monologues while the surround channels and subwoofer are used mildly and subtle for some additional punch where necessary. Detailed but nothing special.
Extras:
- Audio commentary Track By Writer/Director/Producer Larry Bishop And Director Of Photography Scott Kevan
- The Making Of Hell Ride
- The Babes Of Hell Ride
- The Guys Of Hell Ride
- The Choppers Of Hell Ride
- Michael Madsen’s Video Diary
- Trailers
All in all a couple of interesting extras that give some more information on the production in a way that doesn’t bore you to death. Good stuff.
Conclusion:
Hell Ride starts off a lot like Pulp Fiction or Death Proof with bikers. The fact that the cover states “Quentin Tarantino present” should make sure this doesn’t come as a surprise. Unfortunately, except for infantile and meaningless filosophical discussions, lots of babes and tough blokes there’s little much to keep the viewer interested. The back cover of the blu-ray states “full of awesome gunfights and badass characters” but we would have liked to see a storyline as well.
Hell Ride as it is now seems more like a compilation of movie fragments that are hardly glued together and as such the viewer hardly has an idea of what is happening when or why.
Tarantino has made some awesome movies but lately products that carry his name have questionable quality and despite the reasonably good cast the end product doesn’t manage to rise above average. Maybe that’s why Tarantino had Larry Bishop put in the director’s seat? Because he knew he wouldn’t be able to make it work and now has an easy scapegoat?
5.0